Robert B. Sturges is a Florida businessman and former

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

government official. He is a limited partner of the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

basketball team and former executive at Carnival Corp .

Early life and education

Sturges is a graduate of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and a cum laude graduate of

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

. He was raised in

New Milford, New Jersey New Milford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 16,341,New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

after being hired as head football coach at

Bogota High School Bogota High School (formally known as Bogota Jr./Sr. High School) is a comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Bogota, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secon ...

. Sturges won all county honors in football, baseball, and basketball while at New Milford High School. He then went on to be a two time letterman on the

Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball The Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I and the team competes in the Ivy League. They play t ...

team.

Career

Sturges started his career as an attorney. He served as

Deputy Attorney General The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

and Chief Prosecutor of

Organized Crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

in New Jersey until 1980. Sturges was then appointed Director of the

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A. to ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry, including spor ...

. He oversaw the investigations for New Jersey Casino License applicants including Steven Wynn, Hugh Hefner and Donald Trump. A resident of

Wyckoff, New Jersey Wyckoff is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 16,585. At the time of the 2010 census, the township's population was 16,696, reflecting an increase of ...

, he commuted 90 minutes each way to Trenton, where his state government positions were located, so that he could spend time with his family.Leith, Rod
"New scrutiny of casinos; Support services to get hard look"
''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Records, an English power pop band * '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee Ge ...

'', April 1, 1982. Accessed August 30, 2022. "The former New Milford resident says he likes what he's doing how because he's trying to maintain public confidence in an industry he feels is helping the same people who were the victims of Medicaid fraud, the elderly.... Sturges commutes each workday from his home in Wyckoff, rising before 6 a.m. and making a point to be home before his 5-year-old daughter and 2 1/2-year-old son are asleep." In 1983, he entered private practice as a partner at Ferro & Sturges, consulting for casino owner,

Ted Arison Ted Arison ( he, תד אריסון; 24 February 1924 – 1 October 1999) was an Israeli businessman who co-founded Norwegian Cruise Lines in 1966 with Knut Kloster and soon left to form Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972. Early years Arison wa ...

, founder of

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...

s. Arison, convinced Sturges to move to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and in 1986, he was named vice president and Special Assistant to the chairman of the Board of Carnival Cruise lines. Sturges helped Arison expand his business ventures including bringing an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

franchise to Miami. In 2006, Sturges became CEO of Nevada Gold & Casinos Inc. (NYSE MKT: UWN). He also served on the Board of Directors for

Benihana is an American restaurant company founded by Hiroaki Aoki in New York City in 1964 and currently based in Aventura, Florida. It owns or franchises 116 Japanese-influenced restaurants around the world, including its flagship Benihana Teppanya ...

and AmeriCredit Corp. (NYSE: ACF) until the company was sold to

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

for $3.5 billion.

Personal life

Sturges lives in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

. He married Nancie (née Schneider) Sturges in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturges, Robert B. American businesspeople Basketball players from New Jersey Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball players 1947 births Living people New Milford High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Coral Gables, Florida People from New Milford, New Jersey People from Wyckoff, New Jersey Rutgers Law School alumni Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople